Joseph conway



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y JOSEPH CONWAY, OF HARRISON, MARYLAND.

Lette/rs Patent No. 89,632, dated Mor/y 4, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALANCE-LINES FOR MAST-HOOPS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame m To all whom it mor/y concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH CONWAY,of Harrison, in the county of Dorchester, and State of Maryland, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Regulating Mast-Hoops onVessels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the construction and operation of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in whichl Figure 1 is a side view, and

Figure 2 a front view.

The object of this invention is to provide a cheap and simple device,which will prevent mast-hoops from catching on the mast, and which will,by causing the hoopsto slide smoothly up and down, greatly diminish thelabor requiredto hoist and take in sail on foreand-aft rigged vessels.

The device which I employ to accomplish this object is very simple,inexpensive, and not liable to get out of order, and can be applied toany vessel whether already fully rigged, and in use, or entirely new. Itconsists simply in supporting the upper hoop from the gaff, by means oftwo lifts a a, attached at their lower end to the hoop at each side ofthe mast, and slightly in front of its centre, so as to hold the hoopperfectly hom'zontal at all times, and attached at their upper end tothe side of the gal'f near its throat; or instead pf two ropes to formthe lifts, a single one may be used, its bight running through the gaifor over it, or through a block or eye under it, as seen at a', iig. 2.

By this means the upper hoop is kept horizontal. All those beneath itare held in the same position by being connected to it by means of cordsor lifts, e e,

'running from the upper to the lower hoop, and fastened to each of theintermediate ones, as'seen ato o.

Only 'one set of hoop-lifts o e, is needed, and this may be used ou thefront sidecf the mast, the boltrope fm answering to connect the hoopsfonthe rear side.

By means of the ropes m e, all thehoops will be held perfectlyhorizontal in hoisting and lowering the sail,

oted upon the throat-halyard as a fulcrum, must be 1 free to raise its`)aws when the peak is dropped; but

in practice this was prevented by the lifts running A from the hoop tothe end of the jaws, so that the peak could not be lowered withoutbreaking the lift a, or the cords c e, and the device had tobeabandoned.

In my invention, however, the lifts ot a run from the hoop obliquelyback to a point immediately under'the throathalyard, so that whether thepeak be raised or lowered no increased strain will be brought upon thelifts or the cords e e, but the whole apparatus will work perfectly.

I do not claim any combination or arrangement of the cords e e, thehoops, and the gaii, except as I have above particularly set forth; but

What I do claim as new, and desireto secure by Let' ters Patent, is

In connection with the cords e e, extending between the severalmast-hoops, arranging the lifts t a in such a manner that they ruu fromthe side or forward part of the upper hoop obliquely back to a pointupon the gai under the throat-halyard, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth. y

'lo the above speciication of my improvement, I have set my hand, this15th day of October, 1868.

JOSEPH CONWAY. Witnesses:

W. H. CONWAY, WALTER S. SMITH.

